Washington Capitals avoid the trap game in win over Coyotes

It was a frustrating game most of the night but two goals in the third period would prove to be the difference. The Washington Capitals will end the month of October without a regulation loss thanks to a 2-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes are still winless as their loss dropped their record to 0-7-1. The Caps improved to 5-0-3.

There were no goals in the first period as the Caps outshot the Coyotes 14-4. It was also scoreless in the second period with the Caps having the edge in shots 6-9. The Caps had five power plays in the first two period and they came up empty in all of them.

At 12:02 in the third period the Caps finally broke through with a power play goal by John Carlson from the point for his second goal of the season. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin had the assists.

Ovechkin would then seal the win with an empty net goal at 19:39. The goal was assisted by Kuznetsov and Carlson and it was Ovechkin’s ninth goal of the season. Ilya Samsonov got the start in goal and made 16 saves for the shutout, the fourth of his career.

Peter Laviolette gave credit to how poised Samsonov was despite not facing that many shots on the night:

“It wasn’t a lot of work out there, but sometimes those games are even harder to stay in, to stay focused because then all of a sudden you do need to make a big save. He was good, just stayed in the game, made the saves we needed him to make.”

This was a game that could’ve easily gone the other way if not for the big third period goal by Carlson. The Caps are banged up as we speak. We all know T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom are on Injured Reserve but morning skate prior to the game, Nic Dowd left early. It was the second time in a week he’s been hurt as he also missed Monday’s game.

Brett Leason, the Capitals 2019 second round pick, would make his NHL debut. He was the 56th overall pick and he’s a big due at six foot five and 218 pounds. With him in the lineup, the Caps had a season high four rookies on the ice with him, Martin Fehervary, Hendrix Lapierre and Connor McMichael.

The Caps now head to the Sunshine State for two big tests. The first test comes on the road against the back to back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.